A Mouse Among Wolves
by MaverickHunterN
Summary: Before he led an army to battle against an Elder Dragon, before the Vigil, even before the fateful day he took up his sword against the Inquest, Darrof was a scared little progeny clinging to life in the hostile mountains. This is the story of him, and of the stubbornly protective old norn who found him there. 9 Chapters.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hey, everyone! This is my first post here, so I hope it's good. I know everyone and their grandma writes about their player characters here, but I hope I can make an endearing story nonetheless. I'd love any feedback you can give me. :D

It was cold up in the mountains. That seemed like such an obvious statement, but to a young asura alone in the snow, it was as if the word "cold" had held no meaning until this very moment. Even as he huddled under a dolyak hide and curled up as tight as he could, he could still feel a creeping numbness starting from the tips of his ears and spreading all the way to his core. He'd had the forethought to swipe the hide from the caravan before it left him here, but it seemed like such a trivial gesture now.

He felt the cold seeping into his lungs every time he dared to take a breath. Was it even possible for one's insides to feel cold? Or was he already hallucinating? How long had he been out here, anyway? For that matter, where exactly was here? Would he be able to find food? He supposed he could gnaw on the dolyak hide if he got hungry enough, though he didn't particularly like that idea. The mouthful of fur notwithstanding, this hide was also the only comfort he had left. The only thing he could call his possession. Maybe he would just nibble on the corners. For water he could eat snow maybe. He had to keep on planning his new life entirely beneath this hide just to distract himself from how unbelievably cold it was.

Honestly, he knew all his planning was pointless. The snow kept piling higher and higher around him, the temperature dropping at seemingly the same rate. He wouldn't have to worry about food or water, because the truth was, he was going to die here.

He distracted himself from this thought by trying to focus on his surroundings. The wind through the trees, the snow flakes rhythmically pelting the hide, the feeling of co- no, stop thinking about the cold.

Somewhere in there, there was a faint rustling; it sounded a bit like footsteps. It couldn't be, could it? Who could be walking around out here? He cautiously peeked out from under the fur and saw what appeared to be a giant, bipedal wolf lumbering towards him.

Yep, he was sure he was hallucinating now.

"You there!"

And now the hallucination was talking to him. He must have been even farther gone than he thought.

"You know I can see you under that thing." A hearty laugh bellowed from the wolf creature as it began to shrink down and lose its fur, all while still approaching him slowly. In seconds, it had assumed a form similar to that of an unusually large human.

Oh, it made sense now, the creature was a norn. That's how it could survive the climate up here. He wondered if norn eat asura. There was absolutely no evidence of that, but he heard it from another progeny one time, so it had to be true.

When the norn finally reached the hide, it knelt down and patted what it probably assumed to be his head. Instead, the norn's hand pretty much covered the asura's entire body. To its credit, the norn seemed surprised by this as well.

"Oh, you're a tiny little thing aren't you? Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. But you're lucky I saw you in there. I just about mistook you for a dolyak!" Another laugh. The asura wasn't quite sure what this norn found so amusing.

Suddenly he felt the hide being lifted off of him.

"Huh, an asura? And so small! You must be just a little kid, aren't you?" The norn picked him up.

Well, hopefully getting eaten would hurt less than freezing to death. He braced himself, but instead, the norn wrapped him in the hide and carried him. The asura squirmed, but was too weak to escape the huge arms that held him.

"Let's get you back to the village. Gotta get you out of here before the blizzard hits tonight. You can tell me what you were doing out here when you've warmed up. By the way, you can call me Rolf. Do you have a name, little guy?"

"D-d-Darrof" the asura squeaked.


	2. Chapter 2

"More soup?"

The norn offered a wooden bowl of what must pass for soup up here. Darrof cringed as the smells of several kinds of meat blended into a pungent stench. It was disgusting, but it was warm. He drank it down as quickly as he could, feeling oddly comforted, even as it burned his throat.

"I'm impressed you were able to last out there." Rolf said. "You're pretty hardy for an asura, aren't you, little Gronda?"

"Darrof" the asura corrected. Rolf seemed to ignore this.

"It really is remarkable." Rolf continued, "In fact, I bet my boy, Fen, could learn a thing or two from you. He's out on a hunting trip right now, but I'm sure you two would get along."

Now it was Darrof's turn to ignore Rolf.

"So anyway," Rolf said with a smile, "time to tell me what exactly a baby asura is doing out in the middle of the Wayfarer Foothills."

"I'm not an infant." Darrof mumbled as he stretched his tiny arms trying to reach the pot of soup simmering over the fire.

"Of course not, sorry." Rolf said as he took the ladle from the pot and fed the child, "But you didn't answer my question."

"I don't see why it matters." Darrof replied, wiping soup off his mouth. "Do you always ask your prey where it came from?"

"Prey?"

"Yes. Prey. As in a creature hunted by a predator and consumed for nourishment. I would think the concept would be self explanatory, even to the primitive mental faculties of a norn."

Rolf stared for a second, then burst out laughing even harder than before. "You thought I was going to EAT you!?"

"I would appreciate it if you stopped laughing." Darrof tried to put on a stern face, but could not hide his ears pulling back in embarrassment.

"Sorry. Sorry." Rolf wiped a tear from his eye as he covered the last of his chuckling in a fake cough. Darrof glared at Rolf, who was still grinning, and sighed.

"Well, I appreciate your hospitality, but I should really be going. My parents will be here to pick me up any minute now."

"Ah, so they know where to find you, then?"

"Yes. I assure you, I will have no further need of your services."

"Do they know their way around the area? I live up here, and even I can tell you that all these mountains look the same."

"Of course. They pass through here all the time on their way to Hoelbrak."

"Well, you'll still need something to keep you warm while you're out there. That dolyak hide you had was thin and tattered. I've got some much better furs I can lend you. You'll also need a signal, so they can see you in the snow. I can help you set up a bonfire, and show you how to make smoke signals."

"No."

"At least wait until the blizzard passes."

"No! How many times do I have to say it? I don't need help from anyone. Especially not a big stupid norn like you!" Darrof stood up and stormed out of the cabin in a huff. He slammed the door behind him, then opened it again.

"And I'm taking the furs with me!" He grabbed the best one he could find, then slammed the door again.


	3. Chapter 3

"Stupid primitive lodging. Not a golem in sight." He grumbled as he trudged through the snow, "Stupid smoke signals, stupid furs, stupid cold! I bet they don't even know about thermoalchemic reactors. How can anyone live like this?"

"Hey kid!"

Darrof sped up his pace, at least as best he could in this heavy snow. He probably made that norn angry, and Darrof knew better than to be around for the repercussions. He wrapped himself up tighter in the furs, looking like a little ball of fluff. The mountains were still deathly cold, but Darrof had to admit, the furs helped. And at least it had stopped snowing.

He walked all the way back to the spot where he was dropped off, and built himself a mound to sit on. Just something to give him a little extra height so he could be seen better.

Then he waited. It wouldn't be long, he was sure. His parents had very good navigational devices, so if they wanted to find something, they could. They also loved Darrof very much, and they would remember that soon enough. So he kept waiting.

He wasn't sure how long it had been, or if time even passed at all up here. Maybe he had stumbled into some sort of time warp. It was at least theoretically possible. He had read a book on chronomancy in his parents' lab, though granted, he understood very little of it. And now he was making his head hurt thinking about time. Wonderful.

Anyway, there was no sign of that blizzard the norn had warned him about. That stupid, superstitious norn.

Speaking of which, he heard some familiarly heavy footsteps in the snow behind him.

"You sure do move fast on those tiny little legs of yours."

"I thought you'd be angry. After what I said to you."

"Ha! It takes a lot more than that to rile me up." Rolf sat down next to Darrof, making Darrof realize how small his mound was as the norn still towered over him. "You're not the first asura I've met, trust me. If anything, I'm surprised you didn't call me a bookah."

Rolf noticed Darrof cringe at that word, and changed the subject. "So, how are your folks going to find you anyway?"

"I don't know," Darrof admitted, "I didn't really plan that far ahead."

"Heh, I get it. Sometimes you just have to improvise. I forget to plan things all the time."

"Of course you do." Darrof muttered, embarrassed to have something in common with a norn.

"Wait here," Rolf continued, "I have an idea."

The norn stood up and starting gathering sticks off the ground. When he had collected all of the sticks around him, he got more by breaking off some low-hanging branches from the trees. Darrof watched, confused, as Rolf stripped the bark off the end of each stick, and laid them together on the ground.

"Do you mind if I take a piece from the fur you have?" he asked. Darrof clutched the fur tighter around him and shot Rolf an indignant look. "Sorry," Rolf smiled and backed away, "Don't worry about it."

He instead tore a strip from his own tunic, and twisted it into a cord. He used the cord to tie the sticks into a bundle.

"Down, please." He motioned for Darrof to get off of his snow mound, and Darrof reluctantly complied.

Rolf packed more snow onto the mound, building it higher until it was nearly as tall as the norn himself. Finally, he picked up the bundle and stuck it into the top of the mound, debarked ends up.

He went over to a nearby pine tree, took a small branch covered in pine needles, put it on a boulder. Using a smaller rock, he ground up the pine branch into sticky sap, and coated the top of the bundle in that pine sap.

Finally, he placed his hand over the bundle and whispered a small incantation. Fire sprang to life from the tips of the branches.

"There we go." Rolf stood back and admired his work. "This should burn for a while, even in a snowstorm."

"Um, thanks." Darrof stared up at the makeshift beacon. Despite himself, he was actually kind of impressed.

Rolf grinned. "See? I told you a signal would be a good idea!" Darrof nodded and sat down in front of the beacon.

"Alright then," Rolf turned to leave, "I'll be back later if you need anything else."

"Wait," Darrof called out, and the norn stopped. "I don't have any money, and I'm not smart enough to build anything for you."

"Um, pardon?" Rolf said, "I'm not sure I understand."

"I mean, why are you being so nice to me? What do you stand to gain from helping me?"

Rolf shrugged, "Nothing. I just try to help people who can't help themselves. What kind of person would I be if I just left you out here?"

"I don't know. You'd still be a giant humanoid creature with low intellect and the ability to transform into a beast." Darrof said dryly, "Sounds the same to me."

Rolf laughed, "Yeah, I guess so. I'll check on you in a few hours."

The heavy footsteps grew quieter as Darrof leaned against the mound, basking in the warmth of the fire above him, and still wrapped in the fur.

For the first time since coming to these mountains, Darrof smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

"Kid? You okay?"

Darrof awoke sometime later, not realizing he'd fallen asleep. Rolf was standing over him and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh good, you were just asleep." the norn said, "I was worried for a moment."

Darrof sat up and straightened the fur coat that had bunched up beneath him. So that's why his limbs felt numb again. He moved his legs to get blood moving through them again, wincing at the pins and needles.

Once the feeling returned, he wrapped himself more tightly in the fur, looking once again like a ball of fluff. Rolf smirked as the little asura struggled around in the fur, waiting until Darrof was ready.

When the asuran child considered himself sufficiently insulated, he uncovered his face and looked up at Rolf with curious eyes.

"You came back, norn."

"Of course I did, Gronda! Here, I brought you something."

"My name is Da- *cough* *cough*" Darrof was interrupted as his nostrils filled with the stench of Rolf's Famous Meaty Medley Soup, as Rolf called it.

"It's just about supper time now, so I brought you some leftovers." Rolf said enthusiastically.

No longer on the brink of death, Darrof was now able to regard the dish with the revulsion it deserved. He expressed this maturely by crossing his arms and sticking his tongue out.

"Oh, I get it." Rolf said, slurping from the bowl himself, "Not really a flavor you're used to, is it? No matter, it's a bit of an acquired taste anyway. But the charr that travel through here love it."

"Of course the charr love it!" Darrof protested, "All they eat is meat!"

"Yeah, I guess that's not a fair comparison, then." Rolf said between gulps of the soup, "I could bring some bread. Would that be better?"

"I guess, but I've lost my appetite now, anyway."

"Later, then." Rolf finished the soup and set the bowl down in the snow. He checked the fire on top of the mound.

"Hmm, seems okay, still. Might need to add a little more."

He pulled a couple twigs off the pine tree, now looking somewhat damaged from the constant loss of branches. He broke the twigs into pieces and dropped them into the bundle. Meanwhile, Darrof tried to kick the empty bowl away without leaving the warmth of the fur.

With the fire stoked, Rolf turned his attention back to the asura.

"I'm serious about that snowstorm," he said, "At least let me build you a shelter or something."

Darrof wanted to object, but couldn't deny that the temperature seemed to be dropping again.

"Fine." he relented, "You can get the supplies, but I can build a tent by myself."

Rolf smiled and ran off toward the lodge.

Darrof stood up and traced a rectangle in the snow. The start of his grand design. He'd never actually pitched a tent before, but how hard could it be? At the very least, if that norn could do it, so could he. That would show him, that would show everyone that Progeny Darrof was not a bookah.

Bookah, that's what they called him. A big, clumsy, unintelligent creature who just went around breaking things. Like… like that norn. Not Darrof. Darrof was smart, no matter what his parents said. And he would prove it with this tent.

Why, he would make the greatest tent Tyria had ever seen. It would be several stories tall, and it would evoke the cubist architecture that was in vogue back in Rata Sum, and um, and it would protect against all forms of weather, not just snow, oh and a magical barrier generator to keep out anyone Darrof didn't like, and that's not all, it would uh, fly through the air, and it would make him breakfast, and-

"I'm back."

Darrof turned around to see his unwanted helper standing there carrying some sticks and a tarp. Rolf was surprised to see the asura out of his blanket.

"Um, what are you doing?" he asked.

"What does it look like? I'm formulating a plan. See? I made a blueprint."

"You made a rectangle."

"It's a work in progress! You just don't understand my genius."

"Apparently not. Come over here, genius. I'll show you how to do it."

Rolf began demonstrating how to pitch a tent properly. Darrof watched as, in less than a minute, the norn had created a shelter that was stable, functional, and wholly underwhelming.

"I can't stay in this!" Darrof protested, "Where's the generator and extra floors and force field and breakfast and-?"

"Breakfast?" the norn asked in confusion.

"Forget the breakfast!" Darrof screamed, "How am I going to impress anyone in this!?"

"It doesn't have to be impressive. It just has to keep you safe."

"You don't get it!" Darrof kicked the tent, collapsing one corner of it, though the effect was probably not as dramatic as he'd hoped.

Rolf took a breath and massaged his brow, saying, "You know, kid, you're really starting to test my patience here."

"That makes two of us." Darrof shot back, "Just watch. I'll show you how an asura builds a tent!"

He started grabbing some fallen branches and fumbling around with them trying to get them to stand up. The more his efforts proved futile, the harder he tried.

Rolf was more focused on the sky. The clouds were becoming thicker and darker. There wasn't much time left. Why did this kid have to be so stubborn? Rolf was trying to keep him safe, but the asura wouldn't even get in the tent.

The old norn sighed. He was doing all he could. He couldn't force the kid to listen to him, after all. He helped in any way he could, but the rest was out of his hands.

He fixed the corner of the tent and added some extra fortification so it wouldn't collapse again. He looked over at Darrof, who had finally snapped his sticks in half out of frustration.

"Arrgh! Why!? Why can't I do this? Why do I always break everything?" Darrof screamed at the sticks, tears beginning to form in his eyes. When he was finally out of breath, he fell backward and laid in the snow.

"I… I really am dumber than a norn." He said quietly.

"Hey, hold on now. You're not dumb." Rolf said to him, "Just because you can't build a tent on your first try, with no instruction, doesn't make you dumb, or useless, or whatever else you're telling yourself. I can build one, because I've had a lifetime of practice. This is what we do to survive out here, and if you stay here long, you'll get the hang of it too."

"I don't wanna stay here." Darrof grumbled.

Rolf sat down next to the asura, who turned away from him and was only half listening. "And by the way, stop using norn as a baseline for stupidity. Just because we aren't up on all of that academic and theoretical nonsense you asura come up with doesn't make us dumb. Okay, well, maybe comparatively it does, but we don't need knowledge like that. We just need to know how to survive up here in the mountains.

That includes knowing how to build tents, or knowing how to gather resources from our surroundings, or knowing that a huge blizzard will be here in less than an hour, and that a creature your size has absolutely no chance of surviving it outside of shelter.

So please, just get in the tent, okay?"

Darrof didn't say anything, but a minute later, he got up and silently crawled into the tent Rolf built.

"Thank you." said the small voice inside the tent.

"Thank you for listening." Rolf breathed a sigh of relief. "Is there anything else I can-"

"No. You've done enough." the asura interrupted harshly, before hesitantly adding, "I'm sorry. I know you want to help, but I have to go home with my parents, so I'd rather not get too attached."

"I… I understand." Rolf relented, turning away. "Then I suppose this is farewell. I wish you the best, Gronda. Please stay safe out here."

Rolf took one last look at the tent before trudging back down the mountain.

"...It's Darrof." the young asura finally worked up the nerve to say.

But the norn was no longer there.


	5. Chapter 5

Darrof curled up in his tent. It was better this way, he told himself. He didn't need Rolf- er… the norn. That was strange; when did he start calling the norn by his name?

It's not like he would miss him. Rather, he shouldn't. Soon this whole ordeal would be behind him, and he would go back to his life in Soren Draa. The mountains, the cold, and Rolf, would all be a distant memory.

Besides, Darrof didn't want Rolf's way of doing things to rub off on him. That would just make him even more of of an outcast back home.

Well, regardless, all he could do now was wait.

And wait.

Aaaaaaaand so on.

Asura children get bored easily.

Though Darrof supposed he should be grateful that he had the luxury to be bored now. It was frankly incredible how much insulation the makeshift tent provided. He felt totally protected from the elements outside.

It was almost… cozy.

Good thing too, because it appeared that Rolf had been right about another thing: the blizzard started right on cue. The temperature dropped a little bit inside the tent, but it was still manageable.

With nothing else to do, Darrof curled up in his shelter and listened to the rhythmic sound of the snow pelting the tent. The wind was picking up, he could hear it battering against the tent.

Darrof had no idea how long he waited. He knew he had slept for a while, and now he was hungry again too. He tried eating some snow, but it didn't really help.

Well, however long it had been, Darrof had gotten quite used to the inside of this tent. Time seemed to fade away as the natural symphony continued on. If it weren't threatening to kill him if he ever left the shelter, Darrof could almost find beauty in the sound of the blizzard. Pelting snow, howling wind, rustling trees, fluttering tent.

Snow. Wind. Trees. Tent.

Snow… Wind… Trees… Tent…

Footsteps. Darrof perked an ear up.

...Footsteps!

Hold on. Darrof made sure to temper his expectations. For all he knew, it was just the norn again, apparently too dumb to follow directions.

But no, there was something different about these. For one, Darrof didn't feel the ground rumbling as it had whenever Rolf had approached. For another, it had an odd rhythm to it. Almost like…

Multiple sets?

Could it be?

Throwing caution to the wind, Darrof got to his feet and opened up the tent. The moment he did, a much more literal wind smacked him in the face and made his eyes sting.

Squinting, he poked his head out and tried to locate the sources of the footsteps. His body still in the tent remained nice and warm, which just made the feeling on his face even more jarring.

This was far worse than before. This was… torment. For the second time in a single day, Darrof found himself reevaluating his definition of "cold".

But it didn't matter. If there was even a chance of his parents being out there, nothing would stop him from trying.

He cautiously stepped out of the tent, bracing himself as his whole body instantly went numb.

He gritted his teeth, and kept scanning the horizon for signs of life, or tried to at least. It had gotten dark out, but Darrof was rather proud of his night-vision. But even in spite of that, with all of this snowfall, he could barely see more than a few meters in front of him.

Glitch, why did it have to be in the middle of a blizzard?

This was no good. He needed a better vantage point. Darrof walked forward blindly until he felt his hand hit the snow mound that supported the burning beacon.

He looked up. Miraculously, the beacon seemed unimpeded by the weather. Hmm, provided he stayed clear of the flame, the height would give him better visibility, and the heat would keep him from freezing before help arrived. Plus, whoever was out there would be naturally drawn to the light.

In short, it would suffice.

Darrof dug his stubby clawed hands into the snow mound, ignoring the burning chill as best he could. He kicked his small legs up the mound with all his might, and eventually made it to the top.

Standing up right under the burning sticks, Darrof looked out again toward the source of the footsteps. They were growing fainter now, he had to hurry. Thankfully, he could see a little farther now. He strained his eyes, as if they could pierce through the snow if he tried hard enough.

Finally, at the very edge of his vision, he found what he was looking for. The faint silhouettes of people walking through the blizzard. Even from this distance, Darrof could tell they were too small to be norn.

How many were there? Darrof counted one, two…

three, four.

Five.

Six?

Seven!

Darrof's heart skipped a beat. A search party! His parents had sent a search party to find him! He knew it! They wouldn't just leave him out here. They just needed time to prepare, so they would find him no matter what.

But still, Darrof wasn't sure they'd be able to see him from over there. The silhouettes were getting smaller. There was only one thing to do.

"I'm over here!" Darrof shouted at the top of his lungs. "I'm right here! Come toward the beacon!"

Darrof kept yelling, and just as he was about to give up, the figures stopped moving, and then started drawing closer. This was it! He was saved!

"That's it! I'm right here!" Darrof kept hollering. "I knew you'd find me! Mom and Dad will be so happy when they find out I'm okay! Are they with you now? No, no, it's better if we surprise them. I want to see the joy in their faces when they find out I survived all by myself!"

The figures got closer and closer.

"Come on! You're almost here!"

Finally, they were close enough that Darrof could make out their shapes, and immediately realized his mistake.

These were not asura.


	6. Chapter 6

"Uhhh… Never mind! False alarm!" Darrof changed his tone, "Nothing to see here. Just move along. But um, send over any asura you find on your way back. That's all! No need to come any closer. You can stop now!

...Please?"

Darrof hid himself behind the beacon just as the figures finally came into full view.

He cautiously peeked out at them. They certainly weren't asura, but they weren't norn either. They were hairy, with long arms and strange faces. Several of them were holding primitive-looking weapons.

Altogether, they numbered about 13, plenty more than Darrof thought he had seen.

One of them spoke, "We've found it, Shaman. Our salvation from this storm!"

Several of the creatures jumped up and down, whooping ape-like noises.

A tall one with an extravagant headdress, probably the shaman, stepped forward and raised his hands toward the beacon.

"Long live Fokoko. Your call has led us to your flame." it said.

The others raised their hands in worship, "Long live Fokoko!"

It seemed like they were just here for the beacon. Good, that meant they hadn't noticed Darrof yet. He stayed hidden and planned his next move.

He'd only read about such creatures before, but this is what he knew: They were called grawl. They were a tribal race of ape-like beings who would travel throughout western Tyria. They were known to worship any depiction of a deity they found, different tribes creating their own gods based loosely on what other races had already built.

Darrof wasn't sure what this 'Fokoko' was supposed to be, but it was clearly some kind of fire god.

What Darrof did see was an opportunity.

Surely these creatures were stupid. Even norn seemed to look down on them. That meant, with Darrof's superior intellect as an asura, it should be a trivial matter to manipulate this tribe into helping him.

As the grawl continued worshipping the snow mound, Darrof climbed out of hiding and stood proudly in front of the beacon. From atop the mound, he looked down at his soon-to-be servants, and said in as deep a voice as he could muster,

"Fear not, loyal followers, for it is I! The Fire God, Fokoko, given flesh!"

The grawl fell silent and stared at the little creature standing atop their newfound idol. Darrof laughed in self-satisfaction. This was his most brilliant idea yet.

"Yes yes, I know you're speechless. You've been given a great honor to come face to face with your god. But let it not distract you. This fire is my gift to you, for your great virtue. You may bow to me now, if that is your wish."

The grawl gripped tighter on their weapons, but Darrof was on too much of a roll to back down now.

"My only request to you, as proof of your faithfulness, is to carry me down to Metrica Province in the east, so that I may spread the message of Fokoko there as well. Oh, and grapes. I like grapes. And if you have any sort of fancy crown-"

"You are not Fokoko." one grawl interrupted.

"What are you talking about?" Darrof countered, "Do you not recognize your own god? Followers, shun this non-believer!"

"Not Fokoko!" the rest of the grawl voiced their opinion.

"Oh yeah?" Darrof said indignantly, "Well, if I'm not Fokoko, then how do you explain this?"

He grabbed a single burning stick out of the beacon and waved it around menacingly. The grawl were unconvinced. The small creature atop the idol was just waving a stick at them.

Darrof continued shouting gibberish and twirling the burning stick around, until he stumbled, and accidentally set his sleeve on fire. Darrof's chanting turned to panicking as he threw down the stick and frantically rolled his arm against the snow until the fire was extinguished.

He looked down at the grawl sheepishly and said,

"... ta da?"

The grawl shaman smiled. Perhaps Darrof's ruse worked after all. The shaman said slowly but firmly,

"You are… sacrifice."

Oh. That wasn't good.

"Sacrifice! Sacrifice!" the grawl started chanting. They circled around the snow mound and began dancing and chanting.

"Hear me brothers!" the shaman declared, "Fokoko has provided us this creature to use as an offering. With it, we shall appease mighty Fokoko, so that he may bring an end to this storm!"

"Sacrifice! Sacrifice!" the rest continued chanting. Some of the grawl left the circle to start climbing up the mound.

"Stop!" Darrof wailed, "You are making your god very angry!" The grawl would no longer listen to anything he had to say.

As one of them neared the top, Darrof tried as hard as he could to kick him off. Not that he probably could have succeeded anyway, but he was starting to feel weak from the cold, which made it extra difficult.

This grawl reached out to grab the asura, and Darrof jumped away reflexively.

That's when he lost his balance. The mound wasn't wide enough to support him jumping around like that.

The moment Darrof was about to fall off the mound seemed to stretch on forever. The grawl were waiting directly below him. It would be certain death if they caught him.

As he slid off, Darrof clawed at anything that could be a handhold. At the last second, he caught hold of the beacon itself. He heard the sticks creak as he hung off of them.

More grawl were trying to climb on the mound, pushing against it to try and shake Darrof off. The beacon could only take so much. The sound of wood snapping told Darrof that the entire mound was about to topple over.

One grawl was now standing on top of the mound and jumping up and down, not realizing the danger he was in.

Darrof, not wanting to be crushed under the mound, swung to the side and threw himself off the beacon just as it finally lost balance.

The tiny asura hit the ground hard as the beacon came crashing down. It wasn't until he forced his eyes open that he realized how narrowly he'd avoided an even worse fate: the torch had fallen onto the tent, setting the entire thing ablaze, and a couple of the grawl that were too slow to jump off the mound had fallen right into it.

Darrof wanted to throw up at the smell of burning fur and the panicked, primate screams. But he was too weak to even wretch properly.

Even as dazed as he was, he recognized that this was the best chance he would get to escape.

Adrenaline got him up to his feet, but he only made it a few steps before his legs gave out and he tumbled face down in the snow.

He couldn't move legs.

Oh Alchemy, he couldn't move his legs!

He used the last of the strength in his arms to roll onto his back, and then frantically rolled the other direction to avoid a grawl hatchet hurtling right towards him.

The hatchet hit the snow mere centimeters from his head, and nicked his ear. That probably would have really hurt, if he could still feel his ears.

He was still alive, but he certainly wasn't safe. If that hatchet had been thrown at him, then that meant the distraction of the burning tent had no longer occupied the surviving grawl, and they had returned their attention to their sacrifice.

He had to flee. Now.

But that maneuver had taken its toll on his arms, which were now as unresponsive as his legs.

Was it the fall? No that couldn't be it. It wasn't a high enough drop to paralyze him.

No, he knew what this was, even if he'd been trying not to think about it this entire time.

Rolf was right again, an asura just wasn't built for this extreme weather. He may have been able to endure it for a short time, but his fate was sealed the moment he left the safety of the tent. Darrof's entire body was on the verge of frostbite, and he knew it.

He dragged himself closer to the blazing tent, desperate to get any warmth he could. He tried to scream, but his throat was dry and scratchy. And he could feel ice crystals forming on his tongue. A small part of him even considered rolling into the fire. Darrof wasn't sure if it would hurt less to burn to death or freeze to death. Neither sounded pleasant.

The fire was behind him, the cold was all around him, and the grawl were in front of him.

Oh right, he'd nearly forgotten about the grawl in all of this. Not that the grawl had forgotten him, of course. The progeny was almost relieved as the lead shaman stood over him, dagger in his hand and rage in his eyes. Even if he could resist, Darrof wasn't sure he would at this point.

More than anything, he just wanted the pain to stop.

The asura closed his eyes as the grawl shaman raised his dagger, but the blade never came down.

Slowly, Darrof opened his eyes. The shaman was still standing over him, dagger still in hand, but he seemed distracted. The shaman, no, all of the grawl were staring at something beyond the flame.

Darrof couldn't move his head to see, but he felt a familiar rumble in the ground. Time seemed to stand still. Then all of a sudden, the intruder made his move.

A giant humanoid beast, with an upper body like a wolf, leapt through the fire, sword in hand. Almost like magic, the flames seemed to follow the creature, surrounding it like a protective ward. No, it was definitely magic.

Before Darrof could even process what had happened, the grawl shaman that was standing over him one moment, had been replaced by this beast in the next. The shaman lay on the ground, with a sword through his abdomen, and barely had time to cry out before a vicious claw slashed his throat.

In this moment, Darrof recognized the creature. "y-You came back…" the asura wheezed as darkness clouded his vision.

Then he blacked out.


	7. Chapter 7

Rolf glanced down at the dead shaman at his feet, then back up at what remained of the shaman's followers. The grawl were seemingly frozen stiff, weapons raised defensively, but they still flinched as he snarled at them.

Rolf couldn't speak in this form, but his eyes sent a clear message, "Leave now, and you can keep your lives." For a moment, Rolf thought they would actually heed his warning. But then the bravest among them charged forward to avenge their leader. Well, it was worth a try, Rolf thought.

What followed was a massacre, the blizzard paling against the storm of tooth, claw, and sword that cut down the grawl. The bow and magic users thought they were safe at range, until the flames swirling around the norn blasted at them. This norn was nearly as skilled in fire magic as he was with any weapon.

By the time the blizzard had ended, so had the fighting. Rolf stood surrounded by the corpses of those who had fought him. With a wave of his hand, the flames still surrounding him spread out and ignited the bodies. Seconds later, the flames dispersed, leaving nothing behind.

When the smoke cleared, all that remained were the handful grawl that were too scared to fight, left staring in awe at the furious norn.

"Fokoko…" one of them whispered, and at once the grawl fell to their knees in worship of the norn.

Rolf would have none of it. He barked at them with a voice that shook the snow from the trees, and the grawl scampered away in terror.

As soon as they had left, Rolf finally allowed himself to take a deep breath, shifting back into his normal form. He looked at the burning tent with regret.

He should have stayed.

He should have been more insistent.

Maybe then this wouldn't have happened.

Rolf got on his hands and knees and dug through the rubble. If anything had happened to that kid, he…

He couldn't think about that right now. Not while there was a chance.

"Kid?" he called out. "Darrof, if you can hear me, please answer! I don't know if I can find you. Darrof!"

Tears began rolling down the norn's face. It wasn't like he'd known the kid long, but he was still desperate to save him. At least he'd be able to save somebody.

He kept digging, and finally he found the the body of a tiny asura, almost small enough to fit in his hand. The child was unconscious, but Rolf could feel a faint heartbeat.

"You're alive. Thank the Spirits you're alive. It's okay, little Gronda. You're safe now."

Rolf wrapped the asura in what was left of the tent, and carried him down the mountain.


	8. Chapter 8

When Darrof woke up, he was laying in a small cot fashioned out of some kind of fur. He sat up and looked around. He was inside a lodge built from strong wood and stone.

The sound of a fireplace crackled across the room, and wafting from it was the smell of… groan, Meaty Medley Soup. Darrof recoiled on instinct, but relaxed when he realized what it meant: he was safe.

Darrof stretched his arms and yawned, which got the attention of the norn crouched in front of the soup pot. Rolf turned around to see Darrof wandering groggily toward him.

"You're finally awake!" Rolf said with glee, "I knew the smell of food would do it. Want some?"

Rolf excitedly handed a bowl to the asura, the soup sloshing around from the motion. Too tired to refuse, Darrof reluctantly accepted the bowl and took a sip.

That was strange; the taste was the same as it had been before, but Darrof found he didn't mind it as much. And the smell seemed much more tolerable once he'd actually eaten some. Before he knew it, he had finished the entire bowl.

Darrof sat down next to Rolf, who was still finishing his own soup.

"Thanks." he said, "For everything."

"Don't mention it." Rolf replied, "I'm just glad I got there in time. I'm sorry I left you there."

"It's fine. I told you to do it, after all. But how did you know to come back?"

Rolf chuckled, "Well, I figured you could handle it from there, but just in case, I went back a few times to check on you. Mostly to keep the beacon lit."

"Really? In the middle of that blizzard?"

"Yeah." Rolf shrugged, "It was a bad one too. Lasted almost 24 hours."

"24 hours!?" Darrof said in shock, "Is that how long I was out there?"

"Give or take." Rolf said, "You did come dangerously close to frostbite though. I thought I told you to stay in the tent."

"Well, if my parents were out there, what else could I have done?"

"...You're right. I'm sorry. I understand why you did it. I just wish it hadn't turned out the way it did."

Rolf's expression turned to worry as he looked at Darrof's ear, "Speaking of which, you're hurt! Spirits, how did I not notice that?"

Darrof reached up and felt the nick in his ear. He winced in pain as his finger ran over it, and his mind flashed back to the flying hatchet that nearly ended his life.

Rolf inspected the wound. "I'm afraid it won't heal, but it looks like it didn't do any serious damage." He reassured Darrof, "You were lucky."

"I don't feel lucky."

"I know."

Rolf picked up Darrof and gave him a big hug. Where once Darrof struggled, now he felt safe and secure in those giant arms. He held onto Rolf's arms as tight as he could.

"There there." Rolf spoke softly, "It's going to be okay. Those grawl must have been pretty scary, huh?"

"You were scary too." Darrof recalled the image of the snarling wolf-man that was the last thing he saw before he passed out. "But… not in a bad way."

"I had something to protect."

"Someday I want to be big and strong like you." Darrof murmured. Then he did a double take as he realized what he said. "Ah, glitch." he said, "I'm starting to think like a norn, aren't I?"

Rolf lauged heartily. Darrof realized it had been a while since he'd heard Rolf laugh like that.

"Afraid so, Gron-" Rolf stopped himself as the asura glared at him, "...I mean Darrof."

"You know my name," the asura said, "so why do you keep calling me Gronda?"

Rolf thought about that for a minute, "Well I guess I might as well explain it." He said, "It's a bit of a long story though."

"I have time." Darrof said simply.

"I suppose you're right." Rolf said, "Alright then. Well you see, in my younger years, I was a bit of an adventurer. I traveled all over Tyria and even got to meet a dwarf one time."

"But I thought the dwarfs were all dead." Darrof said.

"Not this one." Rolf grinned, "His name was Ogden, and he was on an expedition with some other scholars to investigate some ruins or something. Anyway, I traveled with them for a while, and helped protect them from grawl that kept trying to steal the artifacts they collected.

I got so good at it, that Ogden started calling me Gronda. I corrected him a few times, until finally he explained that it was an old dwarven word.

It roughly meant 'soldier', but it was really a term of respect given to someone who had courage like unbreakable stone. Someone who would willingly endure any hardship to protect something, or someone.

That's why I call you Gronda, because in all my years since, I've never met anyone else more deserving of that title."

"I see." was all Darrof could say at the end of the norn's story. "Is that really true?"

Rolf nodded.

Darrof thought for a while, and then said, "I guess you can call me that if you want."

Rolf smiled, "Thanks Gronda. I've got tons of stories if you want to hear them."

"I'd like that." Darrof said. "But first, can I have some more soup?"


	9. Chapter 9 END

Well into the evening, Darrof and Rolf talked and ate soup. Darrof was actually enjoying it, now. It helped that he was really hungry. He had just polished off his fourth bowl, when he remembered something important.

"Wait, so… Is the blizzard over now? Is it safe to go out?" Darrof asked.

"Actually," Rolf said, "That was days ago. You've been resting here this whole time." Seeing the concern in Darrof's eyes, he added, "Don't worry, I rebuilt the beacon, and I've been checking on it every day since the blizzard ended."

"Thank you so much." Darrof said, "Does that mean anyone…"

Darrof didn't need to finish his question as he saw Rolf's face furrow in sadness.

"No luck yet." Rolf said, "It's been over a week now, but if you want, I can keep trying. Once you feel better, we can even go out and find them ourselves."

"No, that's okay." Darrof said, crestfallen, "They know where I was, and they travel that route every few days, so it shouldn't have taken more than a week to find me if they were looking."

"...If?" Rolf was distressed by the way Darrof seemed to place particular emphasis on that word. "Gronda, I wasn't going to ask before, but, how exactly did you get lost?"

"I fell…" Darrof stopped.

He had to be honest, not just with Rolf, but with himself.

"...I was thrown out of the caravan."

"Thrown out?" Rolf was mortified, "By your parents?"

Darrof nodded. "They said they had no use for a bookah like me, and I should just become food for some predator in the mountains, since that's all I'm good for."

Silence fell upon the room. Rolf wasn't sure how to respond, and Darrof was running out of excuses to make on his parents' account.

"...Darr-" Rolf started.

"Rolf." Darrof spoke up instead, "...I don't think they're coming back for me."

Then, as if a dam was broken, Darrof finally allowed himself to cry. Rolf held the child in his arms as the asura sobbed into his sleeve.

"Why don't they want me?" Darrof asked through his tears. "I tried to be a good asura. I tried so hard."

"It's okay, little Gronda. I've got you." Rolf patted Darrof's head, struggling to hold back tears of his own. "They're the idiots for leaving behind a great kid like you."

"I hate them!" Darrof sobbed, "They left me all alone. I was so scared. I thought I was going to die!"

"You're safe now. You're safe."

Over half an hour passed before Darrof stopped crying. The fireplace had gone out, and the soup had gotten cold long ago.

Darrof held onto the norn's sleeve and sniffled, "What am I going to do?"

"I don't know." Rolf admitted, "I don't know what's best for you from here, whether you go back to asuran lands, or somewhere else. But I know that there will always be a place for you here if you want it."

"You really mean that?" Darrof looked up at the norn with big, hopeful eyes and cheeks still stained by tears.

"I do. If you can stand staying in the mountains, I would be honored to take care of you."

"I… Okay. There's nothing left for me in Metrica Province. I'll stay here, if you'll have me."

"I'm glad." Rolf said, "Truly I am. And don't you worry, you'll have a great life here. No one here will judge you the way your parents did, and I'll personally fight anyone who picks on you for being an asura.

I can give you warm shelter, good food, plenty of laughs, I can tell you stories, and I'll teach you everything you need to know about living out here.

It's just been my son and I for a long time, and Fen doesn't talk much since his mother passed. A new member of the family might be just what we need."

"You mentioned Fen before." Darrof said.

"That's right. He's my son, not much older than you, in fact. He's been out hunting for the past week, but he should be coming back tonight."

There was a knock on the door.

"Oh, what a coincidence. That's probably him right now."

Rolf got up and opened the door, and in stepped a small norn. Well, small was relative: he was still more than twice as tall as Darrof, but far smaller than Rolf. But even Darrof could tell that he was also unusually skinny for a norn.

"Fenrir, my boy!" Rolf said. "Good to have you home! Did you catch anything?"

"It's just Fen, dad" the boy said dismissively, "And no. Nothing. Again."

"It's alright. I'm sure you'll get it next time." Rolf said, "Come on in! You're just in time to meet Darrof. He's going to be living with us from now on."

Fen looked at the asuran stranger up and down with a complicated expression. "You never told me we were getting a pet. Just don't expect me to take care of him for you."

"How dare you!" Darrof shouted up at the rude young norn, standing on his toes in an attempt to appear more threatening. "I'll have you know, I am a proud asura of Soren Draa, outside Rata Sum, capital of Metrica Province. My intellect towers above you!"

Fen smirked, "I have a hard time believing any part of you has ever towered above anything."

"Why you-" Darrof jumped at Fen.

"Hey hey! Calm down you two." Rolf caught Darrof with one hand and held Fen back with the other. "Fenrir, Darrof isn't a pet. He's going to be your brother, so try to get along with him okay?"

"Whatever." Fen stormed off to his room. "Just keep him away from my stuff, got it?" He closed the door behind him.

"And it's just Fen!" he shouted through the wall.

"Don't mind him" Rolf said, setting Darrof down. "He gets like that after a hunting trip. It may take some time, but I know he'll warm up to you eventually."

"I don't like him." Darrof said flatly.

"Again, give it time." Rolf said. "Come on, there's one more thing I want to show you."

Rolf led Darrof back to the cot he had woken up in. "I would have offered this to you as a gift when you were ready to leave again, but since you're staying here, well, either way it's yours. I'll get to work building you a proper bunk, but I hope this will do in the meantime."

"Yeah, thanks." Darrof said, "It was cozy."

"I started making it after I brought you back from the blizzard. Take a closer look at it."

Darrof looked closer at the cot. It was made from some kind of fur. That fur was a little tattered, but it was patched up, and supported by fuller layers underneath.

Darrof pressed his hands into the fur. This was… This was the same dolyak hide he had when Rolf found him. The same hide that was at one point his only possession. And now he would always have it.

"Thank you." Darrof said more genuinely, "It's perfect."

"I thought you would appreciate it. Think of it as a reminder, that even with nothing but a tattered old dolyak hide, you have strength enough to survive even in a place like this."

Rolf gave Darrof one more hug and stood up. "Alright, now get some rest. You're not fully healed yet. I'll see you in the morning, but let me know if you need anything else."

"I will." Darrof said, snuggling up in his cot.

"Goodnight, my little Gronda. Welcome to the family." Rolf said softly as he blew out the candles.

As Darrof drifted off to sleep he said, "...Goodnight, Dad."

The End.


End file.
